1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to weighty object mounting system, and more particularly, is directed to improvements in a weighty object mounting system for use in a vehicle assembling process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For mounting an engine to a vehicle body in a vehicle assembling process, there has been proposed a conventional mounting system in which a vehicle body is hung on an over-head type conveyer to be subjected to tact-transportation and an engine is placed on a mounting table of a lifter provided in an engine mounting station to be lifted by the lifter when the vehicle body has come into the engine mounting station, so that the engine is engaged with the vehicle body to be mounted thereto. However, in such a mounting system, there is a disadvantage that if the engine is intended to be merely lifted by the lifter without any specific consideration, the vehicle body and engine may interfere with each other and therefore the engine may not be properly mounted to the vehicle body. In view of automatic mounting of the engine, to eliminate such disadvantage is an important subject.
As disclosed in the Japanese patent application published before examination under the publication number 59-206266, there is also previously proposed a mounting system in which a mounting table is provided to be able to move in the vertical, longitudinal and lateral directions, and driven to ascend and descend along a path for movement predetermined in accordance with the types of vehicle bodies and engines, together with the engine placed thereon, so as to prevent the engine from interfering with the vehicle body on the way to a proper position for engaging with the vehicle body.
However, in the previously proposed mounting system as mentioned above, a misalignment may arise between the vehicle body and the engine due to, for example, inclination of the vehicle body hung on the overhead conveyer. In the case of the misalignment thus brought about, it is still feared that the engine and the vehicle body interfere with each other.
In order to avoid such a misalignment, it is considered to detect the location of the vehicle body hung on the over-head conveyer and correct the route of the path for movement along which the engine ascends and descends. However, in the previously proposed mounting system, the moving table is arranged to move simply in the vertical, longitudinal and lateral directions, and therefore it is quite difficult to correct accurately the route of the path for movement along which the engine ascends and descends.